


I Saw Sparks

by sqlangelos



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (or i hope we did), F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Sports injuries, azula mai and ty lee are mean lesbians, bakoda rights, but we knew that, dilfkoda, i feel like im using too many tags, i promise its gonna get better, katara and zuko are theater kids, nerd x jock au, sokka is def a gifted kid burnout, sokka is in the stem club and president of the chess club, suki plays volleyball and lacrosse, this actually starts off so cringe im so sorry, yes kyoshi is the volleyball coach, yuekka happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28228236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sqlangelos/pseuds/sqlangelos
Summary: so uh if you read the tags (i don't blame you if you didn't) you know this starts off super cringy. within the next chapters i promise it's gonna get A LOT better. anyways the idea of this came from me tweeting about suki having a letterman jacket and sokka wearing it all the time.also i'm writing a summary later because i am lazy, uncreative, and ready to get this fic posted.
Relationships: Aang/On Ji (Avatar), Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar), Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Kyoshi/Rangi (Avatar), Sokka/Suki, Toph Beifong/Yaling
Kudos: 16





	I Saw Sparks

**Author's Note:**

> so uh if you read the tags (i don't blame you if you didn't) you know this starts off super cringy. within the next chapters i promise it's gonna get A LOT better. anyways the idea of this came from me tweeting about suki having a letterman jacket and sokka wearing it all the time.  
> also i'm writing a summary later because i am lazy, uncreative, and ready to get this fic posted.

The semi-finals were some of the second most important games. The first most important game, of course, was the championship. They were only one match away from being in the championship. So far, it looked as if they were going to win this match. It was a few minutes into their second set of the match. It was the best tnree out of five. The team that they were playing had a name that nobody knew. For having a name no one knew, they were pretty alright. They had won the first set and were six points ahead at the moment. 

They had just scored another point, now it was 24-17. Suki had no clue how much time they had left, but she hoped it wasn’t long. It seemed as if the other team was trying to come back with what time they had left. Even though Suki’s team had better talent, the opposing team felt more like a  _ team.  _ But even that didn’t matter now. The only thing that mattered at the moment was not letting the ball touch the ground on their side. Part of Suki’s job as a libero was to keep that from happening. 

She did her best to do so. Nearly every play she had to dive to dig the ball up, hitting it high enough for one of her teammates to find and bump it to each other until someone decided to hit it over the net. Suki had been playing for her school since she was in middle school; she was only in seventh grade when she had first tried out and made the team. That year she was claimed to be the most aggressive player on the middle school team, and that was a compliment. Many of the middle school teams weren’t good, they never really are. They had gone undefeated her seventh-grade year and only lost three of over thirty games in her eighth-grade year. 

When she realized the ball was in her vicinity, she called for it, so her teammates would know she was going for the ball. When she didn’t have to dive, but it was high, so she jumped up on it and hit it back over the net. When she landed, it felt like her knee had popped. She ignored it since it was probably just her joint cracking. The other team was able to keep the ball off the floor, and then it was passed back over the net and onto her team’s side again. Suki was barely able to bend her knee, but that didn’t matter. The win and the championship were what mattered. The weird angle that she fell on her knee could wait. The game couldn’t. As long as nobody noticed her knee she would continue to play. 

The same play was still going on, and Suki had no reaction time when the ball came back to her for the second time. Whoever had it was trying to get a kill, which happened to be her favorite thing to dig. She dove for it, but she missed it. Instead of hitting her arms, it hit her face. Apparently, it had hit her hard enough to make her nose bleed. Unfortunately, that was not something she could hide from the stands full of people. A timeout was immediately called by her coaches. 

They instantly pulled her aside and put any type of tissue or paper towel they could to her nose. Blood was all over her face, dripping down her neck and onto her white jersey. She looked behind her to see that she had left a trail of blood from where she had laid out all the way to where she was now standing. The entire arena seemed to be watching her. 

“Can we take care of this somewhere else?” Suki grumbled quietly. “ _ Everyone _ is staring.” 

“You’re fine,” Kyoshi replied. “Tilt your head back some.”

“Can I go back out?” she asked impatiently.

“Definitely not right now. Hold it yourself,” the older woman pulled away. “Probably not for the rest of the match. Go sit down.” 

Suki groaned, trying not to show bad body language because she knew good and well that Kyoshi hated bad body language. She sat down in one of the metal chairs, holding a brown paper towel to her nose. The game had resumed and somebody else had taken her place. One arm was crossed across her abdomen while the other held the paper to her nose. Her jersey was stained with blood that she would probably never fully get out. There was still an unbearable pain in her knee, but she still pushed it aside. She was sewing the nosebleed right now, not the twisted knee. 

It wasn’t too long before she found herself bored. Watching her team play without her was agonizing. She had rarely ever sat out, and if she had it was because she wasn’t feeling well or she had bad grades at the moment. She wasn’t feeling her best, but she was good enough to play. Something  _ bad _ would have to happen for her to not feel good enough to play in a semi-final of her senior year. 

Hopefully, they would win this set so that they only had one more to go, then the one after that so she would have to only sit out for one and a half games. Suki watched as one of her teammates spiked it over the net, getting the kill. They were still in the lead but Suki didn’t know how much longer this one set was going to last. Her nose would stop bleeding soon, so then they could put her back on the court, right? 

Minutes passed. Suki sat and cheered on her team, ignoring her own slight jealousy. All she did was cheer on her team, she didn’t say anything else. She had almost forgotten the paper towel that she was holding to her nose, but when she pulled it away from her face she didn’t feel the red hot liquid trickling to her lips. Suki wiped at her face a few more times to make sure before turning to her coach. 

“Hey, my nose is done bleeding,” she said. It was the only thing she said, but she had really wanted to also ask if she could go back in. She actually knew if she asked that she would probably spend even more time sitting in the folding chair she was now in. 

There wasn’t a trash can on the court, or at least not one she could go to or throw the towel in without getting noticed by someone. She just kept the dirty towel in her hands. Suki continuously brushed one piece back and forth out of anxiety. She was never this anxious when  _ she  _ was playing. If this game wasn’t won, her high school volleyball career was over. And she wasn’t even playing. She was just glad it was an away game that nobody had been able to come to, including her own parents and Sokka. They were visiting a school three hours away. She would have hated for anyone to come all the way there and watch her barely play. 

After what seemed like lightyears, the second set was over and they had won. There was only one set left that they had to win. Suki wondered how this team had even made it to the last round of semi-finals, as this was the first time in a while that they had won the first two sets in a row. As the third set started, the other team had scored three points in a row. Her team was already behind. Suki wanted to close her eyes, then open them seconds later to a win. Unfortunately, she could not do that without her coach noticing and getting onto her. It would have looked like she was sleeping. 

Though her nose had stopped bleeding, there was still a good amount of pain in her knee. She had somewhat gotten used to it. Suki knew after years of playing that the kneepads didn’t always work, and sometimes you got bruised knees anyway. Especially if you loved to dive as much as her and bruised as easily as her. Curiously, she pulled down her left knee pad to see if it had begun bruising. As she was pulling it down, her eyes went back and forth from her knee to the game. Once it was down, she noticed that it seemed somewhat bigger than the other. Was it swollen? It was definitely a little swollen. It didn’t look like it was bruised, but it had got hurt while she was jumping so it most likely was not going to bruise. She pulled the pad back over her swollen kneecap, trying to hide it.

“I noticed you did that,” Kyoshi spoke to her. “Landed funny after a jump.”

“Oh, yeah it popped but I think it’s fine,” Suki shrugged it off. She did not think it was fine, but she wanted to play. 

“It’s not fine,” Kyoshi said simply. “I saw it. You probably did something to it. I know you hate to hear that.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” she tried to change her coach’s mind. “It barely even hurts anymore.”

“Suki, I’m not an idiot,” her coach sighed. “You’re not going to play the rest of the game. I’m pretty sure it won’t last long anyway.” 

Suki had laughed at the last part very quietly. When she had realized Kyoshi hadn’t laughed, her smile fell and she tried to suppress it and act like she didn’t even make any noise. Suki continued to watch the game and stay seated. Her team had decided to come back, now they were ahead by only one. This set seemed to be harder as if the other team was just now starting to put in some effort. Not only would a 3-0 win be good because she wouldn’t have to sit out for that long, but it would also look very good on their record. Especially during a semi-final. 

Her team made a block, just right and almost missing it. They rarely ever made blocks, usually one of them would just dig it back up. It seemed as if her teammates had noticed that the other team was trying harder just as she did. Her team looked as if they were trying harder. Suddenly, she wished she was out there even more than she had before. Suki just wanted the time to go by fast so they could win and she wouldn’t have to watch anymore. 

Her eyes followed the ball, watching the game that she so longingly wished she were out there playing. She hated the fact that she had been injured, and the fact that it was her fault for not diving right. If she didn’t have a bloody nose she would probably still be out there despite her knee. She had a feeling that Kyoshi really hadn’t noticed it until after she pulled down the kneepad, but of course, she would never tell anybody that. 

* * *

They had won the match 3-1. The other team had lost the first full set that Suki had to sit out, but it was very close. The next set went a lot better, and they had won. They were officially going to the championship in two more weeks. Since her parents hadn’t come, she had to ride the bus they had ridden to the game back home. It would take them to the school and they wouldn’t be back until a little past midnight. Luckily, it was a Friday. It would be okay if it was a weeknight too because then they could be excused from the first few hours of school the next day. 

A lot of people had taken the bus back, especially considering how far away they were from home. No one was allowed to drive themselves to games unless it was a home game, and barely anybody had family that came all the way. The match was three hours away, and most Suki’s parents had ever driven for any of her sporting events was two. It was the same for Sokka. Even some of their student body had come out to support them, but it was mostly friends. Their school treated volleyball as most did football. The volleyball team was actually  _ better _ than the football team. Compared to the football team, their record was completely perfect. 

Even though it had been probably over an hour since the incident of Suki’s knee, she was still in a bit of pain. She tried to ignore it and instead took out her phone. The first thing she did was call her parents. It was probably best to go ahead and tell them that she had done something to her knee, but she herself was still trying to get over the fact that it probably was something major. It hurt more than just a bruise and sprain wouldn’t have swollen that fast. When she called her mother, she was surprised that she didn’t pick up. Instead, she just texted them that they had won but she had hurt her knee somehow. Texting Sokka came a bit more naturally. 

* * *

  
  


we won

by what

we won three and lost one

are you on your way home now

yeah we just got on the bus

i did something funky to my knee though

what happened?

i jumped and landed hard

i also got a nosebleed but that’s not too important rn

is it bruising or anything?

also why did your nose bleed???

it’s just swelling and i got hit the face

lmfao 

u r actually so mean

what if i lost a tooth

would u still love me

maybe idk it depends which tooth 

like are we talking an incisor, canine, or etc 

idk wtf any of those are

front teeth, the sharp ones beside them 

i gtg to bed

oh yeah u have ur nerd competition tomorrow 

it’s actually called a stem competition but whatever 

yeah that’s what i said

gn 

gn ily

ilyt 

* * *

After that Suki had stopped replying and left the message open. She knew he needed his rest, especially before one of his little competition things. He went to those year-round and did amazing in every one of them. Suki tried to attend them just as she had with her volleyball games, but it was very hard to stay awake during them. The most exciting parts were when the competitors got excited and started spewing and screaming out the answers. It was very funny to her when the person had got them wrong. At times she accidentally laughed when Sokka’s team had gotten the question wrong, before she realized it was his team. 

Sometimes it amazed her how smart he was. No one expected Sokka to be smart, even in the slightest bit. It was mostly because of the way he was  _ very  _ sarcastic and didn’t use much common sense. Most people doubted that he even  _ had _ common sense, but he still somehow got spectacular grades and was good at nearly every school subject. The only one Suki could remember him struggling in was art. He was pretty bad at drawing and unluckily for him, their school did have an art teacher who judged on the actual skill of the artist. 

There was still a three-hour drive home ahead of Suki and then another fifteen minutes from the school to her house, so she would need enough rest to at least drive home. Instead of finding someone else to talk to, she tried to lay down and be as comfortable as she could get in the seat of the school bus. There were only nine people on the team, so there was plenty of room on the bus for everyone to have their own seat. The bus carried twenty-four people, so it was actually quite empty. 

The back of her head was against the window and her feet hung off into the aisle. She was comfortable enough to fall asleep. Within no time, she had fallen asleep on the bus. Her bag sat in her lap as if it were a blanket of some sort, and her phone was still lightly grasped in her hand. The blood on her shirt had dried to a very deep red, and it would probably not come out easy but she would overcome that problem when she got to it. The only thing that mattered now was that they were going to the championship, and she was so sure that they were going to win it. 

* * *

She had gotten back home safely, but by the time she had woken up Sokka had already texted her that his competition was over. 

“No, everything would have gone great and we would still be at the competition if the judges called on me or  _ anybody else _ to explain the design process,” he huffed through the phone. “They had to call on Akeno, who did absolutely nothing while  _ we _ made the design.”

“I thought you guys did the science and math stuff?” Suki’s eyebrows threaded in confusion as she reached for a bowl. “What did the kid even say that was so bad?”

“We usually do science or math but for some reason,  _ none  _ of us know Piando made us do something new,” Sokka still sounded pretty angry. Suki could tell from the way he was putting emphasis on certain words. “The problem was that when he got up there, he didn’t say  _ anything.  _ They immediately disqualified us from the tournament. They didn’t even try to get anybody else to come up and talk about it. Do you know how many university professors were there? Because it was  _ a lot. _ ”

“Freshman, isn’t he?” she asked through the phone as she wandered through her own kitchen. Sokka made an  _ mhm.  _ “He’ll learn soon enough. Plus, you have through spring and the rest of this semester to go to your competition things.”

“I know but still, there were people from some  _ really good _ colleges there,” he spoke, a small bit of whine in his voice. “You don’t think they’ll remember I’m from that school, will they?”

“You worry too much,” Suki sighed as she sat down her phone and put him on speaker. “Kyoshi’s making me go to a doctor for my knee before I go practice again. I  _ know  _ there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“You don’t know that,” he said. Suki couldn’t see if he had rolled his eyes, but she just knew that he had. “Is it still swollen? Has it bruised any?”

“I do know that I’m fine,” she continued to tell him. “It’s still swollen but it’s not bruised. I just landed funny and now it’s a little swollen. It’ll be normal in a few days.” 

“I doubt it,” he still denied her. “You probably dislocated it or something. They’ll have to pop your knee back in place. It hurts like a bitch.”

“Of course popping a bone back where it should be is gonna hurt,” Suki was the one rolling her eyes at him this time. 

“I  _ was  _ just trying to tell you,” Sokka scoffed. “I’m almost home.”

“Already?” Suki asked, a bit surprised. It had seemed like they had just started talking. 

“Yeah, it was only a forty-five-minute drive,” he said at the other end of the line. Suki looked down at her phone to see that they had been talking for just over thirty minutes. “I’ll talk to you later, all right? Don’t hurt your knee doing something crazy.”

“Why would I do something crazy?” she asked, laughing a little. 

“Because you’re you,” he giggled back through the phone. “I’m home. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” her laughter had faded to a smile. After that, he had hung up. 

Suki had taken a few bites out of her cereal before she felt slightly uncomfortable. There wasn’t anything wrong with her knee was there? It was just sprained or maybe dislocated as Sokka had said. She had dislocated her fingers before, and that was an easy fix, so this should be just as easy, right?


End file.
